Claudia Merkel has been Head of Corporate Communications at IHA-GfK Switzerland, based in Hergiswil, since February 1, 2007. The 36-year-old Austrian was most recently responsible for international PR at Odlo in Hünenberg. With a market share of over 30 percent, IHA-GfK Switzerland is the leading Swiss market research institute. For almost 50 years, the company has had its finger on the pulse of the market with all-encompassing retail and consumer research, according to a press release.

Several new client mandates have been added to the portfolio of Zurich media agency ZipMedia in recent weeks: In cooperation with Festland, ZipMedia is now looking after Lista Offices, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Schweizer Berghilfe. In addition, the print campaign for the relaunch of Betty Bossi magazine, which was realized by the advertising agency By Heart, was launched at the beginning of January 2007.

An error crept into yesterday's report on Publisuisse's entry into the radio market. The statement comes from Klaus Kappeler, CEO of the Goldbach Media Group, who commented on the issue to Werbewoche as follows: "We at Goldbach Media are not alone in being astonished by the decision that a public-sector marketer without radio advertising expertise is to manage the Swiss Radio Pool. However, this will not change anything for our own customers. IP Multimedia will continue to provide advice, planning, processing and invoicing for all radio stations and all pools - including the SRP. As Switzerland's radio partner, the leading private broker of electronic offline media radio, TV and ad screen has been successfully demonstrating its "great marketing expertise" for years.

A very clever fraudster has smuggled a fake double-page advertisement into the SonntagsZeitung and Heute newspapers - and thus landed the publishing houses Tamedia and Ringier with a hefty bill of CHF 60,000 and CHF 27,000 respectively. In each case, the fraudster posed as the client - only shortly before the advertising deadline - and thus fooled the advertising departments with a professional image. But that's not all; the advertisement, which depicts a naked upper body, presumably shows the trickster himself. Back in December, the Swiss magazine published by Riniger fell into a similar trap with the same trickster. The man is already the subject of fraud proceedings in the canton of Basel-Landschaft: last year he ordered T-shirts in the name of a circus, among other things.

Thanks to high demand for management and executive positions, more and more Swiss people are clicking on job advertisements placed on the Internet. The Jobpilot index rose to 134 points in January 2007. This exceeds the previous peak value from the previous quarter by 4 points and is the third peak in a row. The number of jobs on offer has risen both on the job exchanges and on companies' own websites and is far higher than when the index was launched in the boom phase at the beginning of 2001. The index published by Monster.ch is compiled by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland together with the University of Zurich. The sub-index for the supply on specialized job sites improved by 2 points to 115 points compared to October 2006. The number of vacancies on company recruitment websites rose by 8 points to 172, reaching a record high for the fourth time in a row. The occupational groups of management and executive positions (+44 points), professions in personal care, cleaning and housekeeping (+28 points), technical and scientific professions (+12 points), business services, consulting, legal professions (+12 points) and professions in transportation, warehousing and security (+12 points) have seen particular growth. In contrast, online job vacancies only declined in the occupational groups of commercial and industrial occupations (-5 points) and IT and telecommunications occupations (-4 points).
For comparison with the development in the print media, the advertising statistics of the Advertising Media Research Institute (WEMF) are used as a basis for measuring job vacancies in the daily press. The standardized print index calculated by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, which is directly comparable with the Jobpilot index, rose by 3 points to 46 points between November and January compared to the previous quarter.

The Mediapulse Foundation for radio and television usage research is to be established in April. The initiators - SRG SSR idée suisse, the Association of Swiss Private Radio Stations (VSP), the Association of Swiss Local Television Broadcasters Telesuisse, the Union Romande des Radios Régionales (RRR) and the Union of Non-Commercial Local Radio Stations (UNIKOM) - have drawn up foundation regulations. It provides for a foundation board with equal representation from SRG SSR, private broadcasters and the advertising industry. The foundation charter will be submitted to the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) at the end of February, which will also elect the foundation board members. The initiators have adapted their model to the new Radio and Television Act and presented it to the public at the Communications Days in Biel at the end of October. Interested parties were then invited to take part in a consultation process. The results of the consultation were taken into account in the new foundation regulations. The result is as follows: The Mediapulse Foundation is to be managed by an 18-member Board of Trustees and a Chairman. Its members are SRG SSR (6 seats), the private radio and television broadcasters (VSP, Telesuisse, RRR, Unikom) with 6 seats and the advertising industry (including IGEM Interessengemeinschaft elektronische Medien) with 6 seats. With the exception of SRG SSR, no individual companies are to be represented on the Board of Trustees, but rather associations representing their respective sectors.
The Board of Directors for Mediapulse is formed from the Foundation Board and includes two representatives from each of the three groups mentioned. The Chairman of the Foundation Board - an independent person - is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mediapulse. Nominations for the Board of Trustees will be made by the associations and SRG SSR in the coming weeks; the nominees will then be proposed to DETEC for election by the founders. The department's decisions are expected at the end of March.
The foundation with the name Mediapulse Foundation for Usage Research is to be established at the end of April as an independent foundation within the meaning of Art. 80ff of the Swiss Civil Code with its registered office in Berne. Its purpose is to collect scientific data on radio and television usage in Switzerland and is committed to scientific research. It works according to international scientific standards and is independent of SRG SSR, other broadcasters and the advertising industry. The foundation's assets amount to CHF 2,020,000. SRG is contributing all Mediapulse shares with a value of CHF 2 million. The other initiators and advertising industry associations each contribute CHF 5,000.
Operational research is handled by Mediapulse. It was established by SRG SSR last year with the intention of incorporating research into the foundation to be set up in accordance with the new Radio and Television Act.

In summer 2006, Mercedes-Benz Automobil commissioned the Zurich agency Noise with the strategic realignment and corresponding brand development of Meinmercedes.ch. On the one hand, the new name should reflect the emotionality of the brand for customers and employees. On the other hand, it should act as a promise to be No. 1 on the Internet as well. The magenta logo color, which is atypical for cars, is a commitment to no longer just selling cars - but also an attitude to life, modernity and a high understanding of service. It is also a strong distinguishing feature in a highly competitive market. The website is complemented by a new design manual, which regulates the appearance of the image brochure to the advertising campaign, from the POS to the job advertisement and from the occasion board to the Internet banner.

A week ago, Ringier announced that the Group was dissolving its Publishing Services division and transferring the individual sales and logistics services to the Newspapers, Magazines and Print divisions. However, it was not communicated what will happen to Walter Lütolf, the previous Head of Publishing Services. "Walter Lütolf decided last year to take a six-month sabbatical. During this time, he will devote himself to further training," says Ringier spokesperson Marco Castellaneta on request. He added: "Walter Lütolf has therefore neither left the company nor resigned." Lütolf himself confirms this. However, it remains to be seen whether he will return to Ringier in the summer or whether he will reorient himself, he said. Among other things, Lütolf played a key role in the development of an alternative delivery organization (AZO) for magazines, a project that NZZ, Tamedia, Ringier and Valora once considered as a competitor to Swiss Post, but then put on ice. or is gradually being implemented by Zuvo. However, his time-out has nothing to do with AZO, says Lütolf. Markus Knöpfli

The poster advertising company Affichage benefited from the good economic situation last year and posted a new record result. Net profit climbed by 44.1 percent to CHF 31.9 million compared to the previous year. Sales increased by 12.9 percent to CHF 334.5 million, as Affichage announced on Tuesday. Shareholders should also benefit from the good result: The Board of Directors is proposing the distribution of a dividend of CHF 8.00 (6.25) and a par value repayment of CHF 2.40 per share. In the home market of Switzerland, sales revenue grew by 9.9 percent to CHF 293.2 million. APG, the Swiss market leader in poster advertising and the largest company in the Affichage Group, clearly strengthened its position in Zurich. In addition to the successful participation in tenders for advertising space, there are also other innovative offers: After installing backlit rotating machines at railroad stations, APG is now also positioning them in central squares in the largest Swiss cities. The other companies also contributed to the pleasing Group result.
Abroad, Affichage expanded its market position in Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia by acquiring a majority stake in the Metropolis Media Group. It also took over Montepano in Montenegro. Its involvement in Greece developed more successfully than expected. The Group's sales revenue abroad rose by 39.3% to CHF 41.3 million.
Affichage expects the strong growth to continue in the first half of 2007. The economic signals are positive, although sales losses due to the increasing cantonal bans on tobacco and alcohol advertising will have to be compensated for. The Group also anticipates a favorable development abroad. On the Swiss stock exchange, investors reacted enthusiastically to the figures presented and the increased distribution. The share price jumped in the morning, rising by 8.5 percent to CHF 242 in a generally declining market.

The Weisse Arena Gruppe, which markets the Flims Laax Falera vacation region, has commissioned Assai with the further development and maintenance of its communication and transaction platforms. The focus is on the expansion of online and direct marketing measures, but above all the support and further development of a content management system. This includes the marketing platforms Flims.com for summer and Laax.com for winter, as well as the corporate website of the Weisse Arena Group and individual hotel portals (Riders Palace, Signina). Assai, the Wirz Group company for digital and dialogue-oriented communication, also advises the individual portals on optimizing their online offerings.

In the first week of work of the new editor-in-chief Marc Walder at Sonntags-Blick, the deputy head of news Alexander Sautter has also handed in his notice after head of news Patrick Müller. According to Kleinreport, Sautter justified his sudden departure by stating that he was "in the mood for something new". When asked by the president of the Zurich Press Association, Sautter denied any connection with the new management at Sonntags-Blick. Sautter was sentenced to 20 days in prison by the military court for the story about the secret cavern facility. Before Sonntags-Blick, he worked for Blick, Metropol, Radio 24 and Tele Züri.

SF show boss Toni Wachter has big plans: In a six-part song contest in the fall, the biggest Swiss hit of the year will be chosen. All well-known Swiss stars can take part. It doesn't matter whether they belong to the pop, folk or dialect rock scene.  
According to Blick, the singing competition works as follows: At the beginning, there are five qualifying shows with a specific theme. Ten performers from different genres compete against each other. The audience decides which artist is the most convincing via tele-voting. Finally, the "Biggest Swiss Hit 2007" will be chosen in the grand finale.
 
The new series, in which Blick is a media partner, is based on the program "Die grössten Schweizer Hits". This achieved the highest market share on Saturday evenings in 2006. For Wachter it is clear: "A new, positive national pride was one of the reasons for this success." The new show is to be produced in Zurich's Maag-Eventhall. The show will start every Sunday at 8 pm.